Another Wonderful Day in London...

Today we did Madame Tussauds (which was fun except for the lines), The British Museum (the most exciting parts for me were the Egyptian exhibit and the Rosetta Stone), and The London Dungeon (super cheesy but still fun). Andddd I had wonderful fettucine alfredo for dinner, I'd missed it. Overall another great day in London.

Pictures from today!

Brighton

So today we spent the whole day in Brighton. It's on the south coast of England and by far my favorite place that I've visited so far since I've been here. The weather was perfect, sunny and around 80, and it was the best day I've had all summer.

We went straight to the beach from the train station... I think I prefer sand beaches to pebble beaches (yes, even with how much I hate sand) because the rocks hurt my feet. We lay in the sun for a couple hours, which was fabulous because I am finally not incredibly pale. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach (I had macaroni and cheese, random but amazing) and then walked to Brighton Pier. We rode several rides (a couple roller coasters, a log flume, a haunted house... yes I kept my eyes closed... and a really incredibly tall one you can see in my pictures called the Booster.) The Booster was SO tall-- I've never been scared on a ride before... until that. We had to sit at the top while they were loading the rest of the passengers and it was ridiculously scary. Once the ride started going, though, it was a huge rush and a beautiful view of all of Brighton. After getting ice cream (wonderful) we went back to the beach for a couple hours before coming home. Overall it was an amazingly relaxing and fun day... I want to go back. It was definitely the boost I needed to make it through these last two weeks in busy, crowded, dirty London (even though I love it).

Tomorrow we're going to Madame Tussauds, The British Museum, and The London Dungeon. Best weekend so far? I think so.

Here's the link to my album from Brighton: pictures.

I promise I will get around to posting pictures from Dublin sometime soon!

Nothing in Particular

So today after work I went to some London Harry Potter filming locations (Gringotts, Kings Cross Station, 12 Grimmauld Place, etc.) and it was awesome.

Today I really miss Madam, mexican food, and home in general. It's nice to know that I'll be home soon.

I had the afternoon of yesterday and I went to the Tower of London. I got to see where Ann Boleyn was jailed, executed, and buried, along with a lot of other important people (Catherine Howard, Sir Walter Raleigh, etc.). I took one of the free guided Yeoman Warder tours, which was really historically informative and entertaining. It's probably been one of my favorite sightseeing places in London.

Afterward I went by Westminster Cathedral, a lot less well-known than Westminster Abbey but still gorgeous.

This weekend is going to be great. Saturday we're spending the day in Brighton Beach (there's a pier and restaurants and I don't know what else) and Sunday we're having a whole day packed of London sightseeing: The British Museum, Madame Tussauds, and The London Dungeon (an amusement park with attractions like Sweeney Todd, Jack the Ripper, and the Great London Fire). super exciting.

Paris Pictures

SO here are my Paris pictures, finally!

PARIS.

Paris

Paris was AMAZING. We took a Eurostar train through the tunnel and it was only like 2 hours from London. We had a bus tour of all the important sites and had lunch in a traditional French restaurant (I had quiche) then checked into our hotel, which was super nice. We even had a view of the Eiffel Tower from our window. Right after we got settled we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. It was 12 Euro to take the lift (elevator) to the top, and the view was absolutely as breathtaking as you could imagine. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe that afternoon. That night, we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up (it was blue!) and it sparkles for ten minutes every hour on the hour, and it was so so pretty.

The next morning we took a boat down the Seine that drops you off at the main monuments and places. We went to Notre Dame, and the inside was the most amazing thing I've seen so far on this trip. For lunch I had the best cheese pizza I've ever had in my entire life, ever, then we got back on the boat and got off at the Louvre. We saw all the big works (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Sphinx, Winged Victory) and the building itself was gorgeous. We had to rush, but it was totally worth it. We took the train home (and I read Harry Potter the whole way) and I went right to sleep. Overall it was a great weekend, even though Paris isn't my favorite city in the world, but I'm definitely glad to be back in London.

I'll be posting pictures from this weekend in the next few days!
And, I'm going to Dublin this weekend, yay.

Back from Paris

So, I just got home from Paris. It was amazing, and that's all I have the energy to say about it. I'll write more later.

Oxford

Oxford was absolutely amazing. Look at the second photo album on the last entry for pictures.

We saw SO much Harry Potter amazingness... it was wonderful. At The New College, we saw two courtyards where parts of the movies and at Christ Church College, we saw the Great Hall (!) and a staircase featured in the first movie.

The town of Oxford as a whole was really pretty and really old. We saw a tower that was a thousand years old... crazy.

Today was incredibly rainy in London, and the forecast says it will rain for most of the week. Tonight we saw Avenue Q, a play in the West End, and it was absolutely hilarious; I liked it even more than Spamalot. The only play I plan to see that I haven't already is Wicked.

Upcoming exciting events:
Tuesday- seminar for our Paris trip this weekend!
Thursday- group trip to see Mamma Mia! (the movie)
Saturday/Sunday- PARIS!!!!!!!
Monday- going to Shakespeare's Globe to see A Midsummer Night's Dream

In other words, London is amazing and I'm so glad I'm utilizing my time here so I can see and do as much as possible.